Castle and Cathedral

Longing for the Sacred in a Skeptical Age

Inbunden, Engelska, 2017

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Beskrivning

This book takes a new approach to interwar Prague by addressing religion as an integral part of the city's cultural history. Berglund views Prague's cultural history in the broader context of religious change and secularization in 20th-century Europe. Based on detailed knowledge of sources, the monograph explores the interdisciplinary linkages between politics, architecture and theology in the building of symbolism and a new mythology of the first Czechoslovak republic (1918-1938). Berglunds text provides an important service for understanding both Czech history as well as current Czech political debate. The author's method can be characterized as culture history, able to connect several disciplines, emphasizing common topic (religion, politics, symbolics). Modern Czech elites, superficially characterized as ateistic, appears in a new light to be deeply religious, a transition from more traditional, (mostly) Catholic religiosity, to a concept of a new, modern, ethical religion. The study incorporates biographical research, focusing on three principal characters: Tomás Garrigue Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president; his daughter Alice Garrigue Masaryková, founding director of the Czechoslovak Red Cross; and Joze Plecnik, the Slovenian architect who directed the renovations of Prague Castle.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2017-03-01
Mått:152 x 229 x 32 mm
Vikt:880 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:390
Förlag:Central European University Press
ISBN:9789633861578

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Mer om författaren

Bruce Berglund is Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Calvin College.

Recensioner i media

"A scholar of religion in Eastern Europe, Berglund digs deeply into the personal stories of individuals, famous and less famous, involved with state building and cultural production in the 1920s. We meet a group of politicians, intellectuals, architects, writers, and activists whose public associations with nationalism and secularism hid profound religious inclinations that influenced their actions and thinking. This book is a pleasure to read and a rare opportunity to grasp an intellectual moment in history so intimately. Berglund uses his wealth of sources to nuance his interpretations in ways that make the book and its arguments of interest to all scholars of interwar central European culture and politics."

Innehållsförteckning

List of Illustrations, Abbreviations, Acknowledgements, Introduction PART I. Three Portraits of the Modern Believer Chapter 1. The Philosopher in Search of Truth Imagining a New Religion The Spiritual Pastor Care for the Soul of the Nation She Formed Me Chapter 2. The Architect Creating for the Ages Finding a Path in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna Caught between Prague, Vienna, and Ljubljana The Professor as Spiritual Mentor Cubists and Monument Builders Chapter 3. The Social Worker Longing to Serve Discovering Faith and Vocation Looking to America From Jan Hus to Clean Underwear Building Her House on the Rocks PART II. Czechoslovakia under the Perspective of Eternity Chapter 4. The House of Masaryk and the Moral Republic The Philosopher as President The House of Masaryk and Managed Democracy The President's Conscience A Fortress of the Mighty God Chapter 5. The Moral Republic and Its Discontents Dissonant Voices in the Castle Catholic Intellectuals and the Culture War Masaryk's Message Is Our Message Mysterious Stones at the Castle Chapter 6. Building Cathedrals in Modern Prague Religious Institutions and Masaryk's Civil Religion Faith, Truth, and the Culture of the Republic The Blasphemies of Jaroslav Durych A Cathedral for the Modern Nation Chapter 7. The War of the Absolute Convictions of the President-Liberator Reigniting the Culture War T. G. Masaryk—Mortal and Immortal, Conclusion, Bibliography, Index